ISRO successfully deploys its Cartosat-3 satellite and 13 nanosatellites from the US
ISRO's Cartosat 3 weighs an easy 1,625kg and has a mission life of five years. The satellite can generate power up to 2,000 W.
Close on the heels of India’s mission to study the south polar region of the Moon, ISRO recently launched its latest mission, called Cartosat-3, on its PSLV C 47 launch vehicle, along with 13 nanosatellites from the US. These payloads will be launched into Sun Synchronous orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.
At 9:55 am all the 14 satellites, including Cartosat-3, were successfully separated from the vehicle.
To give an insight about the mission’s payload, the weight of Cartosat 3 is 1,625kg, it has a mission life of five years, and can generate power up to 2,000 W. Besides, Cartosat-3 will also address the increased user's demands for the large-scale urban planning, rural resource, and infrastructure development, coastal land use, and land cover to name a few, reports PTI.
PSLV-C47 (Image: ISRO)
Twelve satellites among the 13 commercial nanosatellites are FLOCK-4P. These satellites are launched with a mission objective of earth observation, whereas another satellite, called MESHBED, have the mission objective of a communication testbed.
The launch vehicle is carrying 13 commercial nanosatellites from the USA as part of a commercial arrangement with New Space India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.
The launch happened at 09: 28 hours IST on November 27, 2019. Cartosat-3 satellite is a third-generation agile advanced satellite having high-resolution imaging capability. The satellite will be placed in an orbit of 509 km at an inclination of 97.5 degrees.
PSLV-C47, the launch vehicle used by ISRO, is the 21st flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration (with six solid strap-on motors). This will be the 74th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
The mission was primarily scheduled for November 25 launch but ISRO had later shifted it to Wedneday.
(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)
